Role of Riboflavin in Induced Resistance against Fusarium Wilt and Charcoal Rot Diseases of Chickpea

Abstract

Riboflavin caused induction of systemic resistance in chickpea against Fusarium wilt and charcoal rot diseases. The dose effect of 0.01 to 20 mM riboflavin showed that 1.0 mM concentration was sufficient for maximum induction of resistance; higher concentration did not increase the effect. At this concentration, riboflavin neither caused cell death of the host plant nor directly affected the pathogen's growth. In time course observation, it was observed that riboflavin treated chickpea plants were inducing resistance 2 days after treatment and reached its maximum level from 5 to 7 days and then decreased. Riboflavin had no effect on salicylic acid(SA) levels in chickpea, however, riboflavin induced plants found accumulation of phenols and a greater activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase(PAL) and pathogenesis related(PR) protein, peroxidase was observed in induced plant than the control. Riboflavin pre-treated plants challenged with the pathogens exhibited maximum activity of the peroxidases 4 days after treatment. Molecular weight of the purified peroxidase was 42 kDa. From these studies we demonstrated that riboflavin induced resistance is PR-protein mediated but is independent of salicylic acid.